Bahrain: FPR preview

ROUND THE CLOCK PREPARATION FOR DEFENDING DESERT 400 CHAMPIONS
There has been no time for rest for the defending
Desert 400 Champion V8 Supercar team Ford Performance Racing (FPR) since
returning from the chaos of Round 11 on the streets of ...

ROUND THE CLOCK PREPARATION FOR DEFENDING DESERT 400 CHAMPIONS

There has been no time for rest for the defending
Desert 400 Champion V8 Supercar team Ford Performance Racing (FPR) since
returning from the chaos of Round 11 on the streets of Surfers Paradise
last weekend.

After racing strongly at the Bathurst 1000 and at the Gold Coast Indy 300
within a two week timeframe, the Desert 400 being held next weekend (Nov
1-3) at the spectacular Bahrain International Circuit comes next,
requiring an around the clock effort by the FPR crew of mechanics,
technicians, engineers and fabricators to ensure that the team arrives in
Bahrain ready to defend its Desert 400 title in strong style.

"To say that it has been an extremely busy period for us over the last
few weeks would be a massive understatement," FPR Team Manager, Chris
O'Toole said.

At the completion of the final race at Surfers Paradise, O'Toole and his
crew packed the FPR B-Double transporter before it headed south to FPR's
technical headquarters in Melbourne with two drivers on board to cover
the 2,000 kilometre drive in as short a timeframe as possible.

"A group of mechanics then started work at 6:30pm on Monday night to
unload the transporter and strip the cars back. By midnight,
Winterbottom's car had been stripped and at 3:00am Tuesday the
fabricators went back to work to repair the damage on the car. The other
issue was the number of panels that we damaged over the weekend, we had
all but run out of spares after the three Surfers Paradise street races.
So over the past three days we've had two panel shops working 24 hours a
day on painting panels, doors and bumpers for us," the FPR Team Manager
added.

The usual challenge for the Desert 400 race is selecting what the team
takes from their usual 40 plus tonne of spares and equipment that usually
travels to all races in the team's massive B-Double transporter. Only
the bare essentials can make the trip to the Middle East, with two 3.5
tonne capacity air containers being all that the team is able to take to
this round. Knowing exactly what to take has become something of a well
learned art at FPR over the years.

"This is the sixth time that we have competed at a fly-away event like
this and over the years we have developed easier ways of packing our
tools, equipment and essential spares to ensure that when we arrive in
Bahrain, everything is organised and easy to work with. Above all else,
we need to ensure that we have everything that we need to get the job
done. This year is the first time that we have had to do it after such a
panel crunching round like we endured at the Gold Coast last weekend,"
O'Toole said.

FPR is looking forward to returning to Bahrain, where the Prodrive team
raced to a memorable round victory after a consistently strong
performance in the three Desert 400 sprint races last year. The fast and
flowing circuit layout suits the FPR Falcons which are considerably
faster this season in comparison to 2006.

Orrcon Ford Credit FPR Falcon driver Mark Winterbottom heads to Bahrain
this year as the V8 Supercar pacesetter of the field. Frosty, (as he is
known in Australia), has been the fastest qualifier at two of the last
three V8 Supercar rounds and gained a best race finish of third at
Bahrain in 2006, on his way to 11th overall for the round.

Castrol FPR Falcon driver Steve Richards heads to Bahrain as the most
recent V8 Supercar race winner after winning the third and final street
race at Surfers Paradise. The victory was set-up by an outstanding charge
from 25th to fifth in race two on Sunday morning - along with a dominant
display of car speed to win the final heat. The highly experienced driver
finished fifth overall in Bahrain last year.

Strong car speed will be important at the Desert 400 with the FPR Falcons
reaching 270 kph at the end of the long Bahrain International Circuit
main straight, which leads directly into a hairpin corner.

Round 12 features a unique Thursday to Saturday practice, qualifying and
racing schedule, due to the Bahraini weekend. All the action will be
televised on the Seven Network across Australia on Friday and Saturday
nights along with a round wrap-up on Sunday afternoon.

#6 Steve Richards - "This is a different round with a very unique
atmosphere. It is a brilliantly engineered racing circuit and FPR was
very strong there last year. The team is heading to Bahrain
in the best form possible and it is shaping up to be an enjoyable and
exciting trip for us. The last four rounds of the Championship have been
very good for the team, finishing on the podium twice, competing strongly
at Bathurst and a race victory at Indy on the Gold Coast, not to mention
a couple of pole positions. Full credit must go to FPR for providing both
Frosty and I with such competitive equipment, particularly with the tight
constraints of the Championship at this part of the season."

#5 Mark Winterbottom - "We have come close to winning rounds this year
but things haven't worked out for one reason or the other. I see no
reason why FPR cannot take back to back Desert 400 victories and that is
our goal for the round. We have impressive car speed and this circuit is
particularly good for our cars, so I am looking forward to a fantastic
Bahrain V8 Supercar round this weekend."

FPR Team Principal, Tim Edwards - "The team has worked around the clock
to ensure that we head to the Middle East in the strongest form possible
after the dramas that both our cars were caught up in at Surfers Paradise
last weekend. We are racing to win this round and remain confident of
continuing our strong form all the way through to the end of the
season."